Keslowski tops the field at NHMS

Sunday

Jul 13, 2014 at 3:15 AM

LOUDON (AP) — Brad Keselowski had a couple of impressive performances at New Hampshire. It’s the victory celebration that again gave him fits.

Keselowski topped all the fields Saturday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, including a dominant run in his Nationwide Series victory. Keselowski also led the speed charts during both Sprint Cup practices. Throw in the pole for the Nationwide race and that made the Team Penske driver a neat 4 for 4.

Simply perfect.

“Well a hell of a Saturday,” Keselowski said.

His only hiccup came when he dropped the American flag out of his No. 22 Ford. The flag rested on the track before it was retrieved by an official to let the victory celebration continue.

“It was really windy and my hand’s been sore,” he said. “I took my hand off the flag for the second and the wind ripped it out. It wasn’t one of my prouder moments.”

Keselowski still needs work on his victory laps. He needed four stitches to close a wound he received during his Victory Lane celebration in the Sprint Cup race at Kentucky. He tried to open the bottle of champagne by hitting it against a podium, and the bottle broke and cut his hand.

Keselowski led 153 of the 200 laps in his second Nationwide win of the season. He also won at Phoenix and hasn’t finished worse than third in six races this season.

“I enjoy this series and feel lucky I am allowed to compete in it,” he said.

He is a star off the track, as well - Keselowski appears as himself Tuesday on the “Sullivan & Son” show on TBS.

Kyle Busch avoided disaster late in the race when he connected with James Buescher trying to make an outside pass and finished second. He starts on the pole for Sunday’s Cup race.

Matt Kenseth, Kyle Larson and Chris Buescher completed the top five.

Regan Smith was seventh and won $100,000 in the first event in the four-race “Dash 4 Cash” program that could award up to $1 million to a series regular.

Smith, the series points leader, was presented with an oversized check on pit road and joked he wanted to make an immediate bank deposit.

“We struggled in traffic more than we needed to and I guess we’ve got to figure that out soon because we’ve got a championship race here,” Smith said. “The side note today is the $100,000.”